Tuesday, April 5, 2011

NATCHITOCHES — A guilty plea last week in Natchitoches District Court will result in the deportation of a Mexican citizen, Natchitoches Parish District Attorney Van Kyzar said in a news release Monday.

Joel Lobato-Ortega, 21, of the 1000 block of Grace Avenue, pleaded guilty to sexual battery of a minor and received a one-year prison sentence. "As part of his plea, Lobato-Ortega agrees to be deported back to Mexico by the Immigration & Customs Enforcement and will remain under an order to never return to the United States," said Assistant District Attorney Billy Joe Harrington, who prosecuted the case.

Lobato-Ortega was arrested Aug. 5 by Natchitoches police after investigation of a complaint by a female that her boyfriend had inappropriately touched her juvenile daughter.